A FRENCH ORMOLU-MOUNTED, TULIPWOOD AND KINGWOOD PARQUETRY JARDINIERE

This opulently-mounted jardinière is very closely related to the base of the famous orange tree and songbird mechanical clock executed by Richard in 1757, formerly in the Rosebery/Rothschild collections at Mentmore Towers, Buckinghamshire; sold Sotheby's house sale, 18 May 1977, lot 49 (P. Verlet, Les Bronzes Dorés Français du XVIII siècle, Paris, 1987, p. 29, fig. 17). The present example, a 19th-century creation in the Louis XV style, has been made re-using earlier intarsia panels and also features a Louis XVI profile plaque, somewhat out of tone with the late rococo style of the Richard original but demonstrating the predilection of 19th-century marchands for creating rich objets harking back to the opulence of the Ancien Régime. A related 19th century jardinière was formerly in the collection of Comte Niel (1879-1966), sold anonymously at Christie's, Paris, 5 November 2014, lot 10.